ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — For one night there was a respite, a reminder of what everyone is missing and the permanence of damage done.
In a 83-year-old cement barnhouse known as Boardwalk Hall, where outside the boardwalk itself still shows remnants of Hurricane Sandy, there was laid a slab of ice to where 10,792 people flocked. There were the stars of the NHL, playing the game they love with utter showmanship, the game that they are not allowed to play at its highest level due to the owners’ lockout, stretching last night into Day 70.
“I want to play real games,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who was fantastic making 56 saves in a 10-6 win for his “New York” team, captained by Rangers’ teammate Brad Richards in what was a softly played facsimile of an All-Star game. “It felt really good to be out there, probably the best feeling I’ve had in a long time.”
Dubbed “Operation Hat Trick,” the game was organized by Richards and Flyers’ forward Scott Hartnell, who captained the “New Jersey” team. All the proceeds made from the game went to the victims of the superstorm, through three different charities.
But all of the good will did not dissipate the negative feelings of the lockout, which had the mostly pro-Philadelphia crowd at times chanting, “We want hockey” and “Fire Bettman,” for the league’s beleaguered commissioner Gary.
“This is my third [lockout], and this one, there’s no reason for this to happen,” Martin Brodeur told The Post after he looked rusty in the New Jersey nets, making 35 saves. “That’s why I think it’s really tough on guys. The other one [cancelling the 2004-05 season], we knew we had to change the whole system. Now there’s just tweaks to be made and they can’t find common ground, so it’s hard.
“The guys that are in the meetings, there’s no give from the owners at all,” the 40-year-old Brodeur continued. “We’re kind of just negotiating against ourselves.”
Earlier in day, Players’ Association head Don Fehr spoke to reporters and made it clear that the two sides were not any closer to a new agreement than they were when the league dismissed the union’s latest proposal on Wednesday.
“Everybody understands that negotiation is a process,” Fehr said. “So far, we seem to be doing all the negotiating.”
Fehr made it point that contracting rights are vital to the players in these negotiations, yet the league is still pushing for longer entry-level deals and more service time before free agency.
“So far,” Fehr said, “we don’t have recognition of that from them.”
What was recognized was how good Lundqvist was, making athletic saves on constant odd-man rushes and focusing like it was the playoffs. Even more surprising was the fact that for the past month in Sweden, Lundqvist has only skated with one shooter.
“Mentally it’s been terrible,” said Lundqvist, whose team was lead by four goals from the Penguins’ James Neal, “but technically it’s probably been very good.”
When Lundqvist took the ice for warmups, at 6:28 p.m., many fans clad in Flyers’ orange booed him lustily. Head down, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner skated to his goal, touched the post with his stick, and for a brief moment one could be forgiven for thinking things were okay.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com